When the band that would become Punch Brothers premiered Chris Thile's long-form piece The Blind Leaving the Blind in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall for last year's In Your Ear festival curated by John Adams, it brought a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd. As Time Out New York's Steve Smith writes in his five-star review of the band's Nonesuch debut, Punch, that event was further proof that Thile is a composer unlike most others. The "exuberance and effortless virtuosity" found in Chris's earlier work with Nickel Creek, writes Smith, are on full display in his Punch Brothers band mates, who all share Thile's "fluent chops and wide-ranging interests."
When the band that would become Punch Brothers premiered Chris Thile's long-form piece The Blind Leaving the Blind in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall for last year's In Your Ear festival curated by John Adams, it brought a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd. As Time Out New York's Steve Smith writes in his five-star review of the band's Nonesuch debut, Punch, that event was further proof that Thile is a composer unlike most others.
The "exuberance and effortless virtuosity" found in Chris's earlier work with Nickel Creek, writes Smith, are on full display in his Punch Brothers band mates, who all share Thile's "fluent chops and wide-ranging interests." Smith finds in the music of The Blind Leaving the Blind, the piece at the album's core, both "the intricacy and finesse of a string quartet" and, at times, "the cinematic sweep of label mate Pat Metheny’s prog-jazz epics." And, Smith concludes, Thile's "plaintive voice and confessional lyrics cut straight to the heart."
To read the review, visit timeout.com. You can now pre-order Punch, due out on February 26, in the Nonesuch Store. You can also catch the band live on tour; click here for more information.
